Highs and Lows of Funeral

[Zimmie]

Funeral was NOT GOOD
how did we go from the lyrical prowess of D6
the heart of FWA
the grandeur of C5
but end up with an album like FUNERAL in 2020?

FUNERAL sounds creatively bankrupt, i know people are going to say i'm going to turn around and say this album is great after some time like i did NC2 but i approach this project completely different to how i approached NC2 i can excuse the flaws and bumps of NC2 because its a MIXTAPE i can't excuse the disappointment and letdown of a COMMERCIAL ALBUM especially after the peaks we got on albums like FWA AND C5 and to a degree OG C5 before this. i must say the promo work done by Mack and Wayne for this album has been great however its a shame the music does not live up to or deserve this treatment.

lets explore some of the lowest points on the album in my opinion and then also look at the more higher points later these low points are low to the point i think that they are some of the worst songs we heard from Wayne since 2012......

BING JAMES is one of the most bland, dry and uninspired songs that we've EVER heard from Wayne the song is a struggle to get through lyrically its incredibly bland and uninspired sonically its messy and clearly forcing itself to be something its not i'm shocked that Wayne is the mind behind this song.

NOT ME sounds uninspired the hook sounds like something you'd find off a Soundcloud artist on the come up lyrically its bland Wayne is saying close to NOTHING on this song and its overall just irritating and generic.

DREAMS has already aged like garbage sounds like a REBIRTH outtake done poorly but doesn't hold a candle flame to a single song from that era i would argue that its not COMPLETELY terrible it does have some redeemable qualities to it Waynes delivery is nice on some parts of the song and there is clear polish applied to the song as a whole.

However, the subject matter is bland, the hook can at times be overbearing and its simply not a song i would revisit voluntarily.

DARKSIDE Boring as hell i cant even finish it sounds uninspired and tiresome to listen to
the beat sounds skeleton almost like a demo beat both lyrically and sonically this song does not deliver.

LINE EM UP Horrible beat one of the worst in Waynes discography sounds like a poor mans A MILLI OR 6 FOOT not more to say about this song besides it being jarring and irritating as fuck to listen to and i'm shocked anyone thought to put this on an album should have stayed locked away.

GET OUTTA MY HEAD WHY is this on an album? i am an XXX fan i loved DON'T CRY and SCARED OF THE DARK and SCHOOL SHOOTER and boy with black eyes is one of my fav XXX songs but this? was UNNECESSARY this sounds forced and pointless should NOT make a commercial album.

BALL HARD Unbelievably terrible hook full of gibberish Wayne sounds bored and uninspired on the verse and to top it off is met with a Twist renegade HOW? how did TWIST spit a better verse then Wayne?

TRUST NOBODY Wayne sounds half asleep rapping through this mindless 2011 sounding pop out-take that feels stitched together by an industry exec.

now for the high points

1. HARDEN
Beautiful production, great writing, heart, meaning and a cohesive great song start to finish my dilemma with said song is Wayne sounds vocally shot there are no peaks, no inflections, no variation in his voice he sounded like he was sleep-talking something his been doing a lot in 2019 features THIS NEEDS TO STOP but i can excuse that just because of how great the song itself is the song is.

The sounds on this song are incredibly nostalgic transported me straight to 2007-2008 with the beautiful sample work by the GOAT street runner a producer like STREET RUNNER GETS Wayne and songs like this are proof of that they need to work more closely and work on a full length project together.

2. MAMA MIA
Fierce, vibrant, creative at times hilarious i would say this is the one of the most complete song on FUNERAL and shows Wayne at his best and demonstrates exactly what i was EXPECTING sonically from FUNERAL its easily one of the best moments on the album for me Wayne sounds EXCITED Wayne sounds HUNGRY Wayne sounds like his having FUN unlike SO MUCH of Funeral where Wayne sounds half asleep.

3. MAHOGONY
Best beat on the album, Wayne is spitting painting a picture with his words next to a bouncy and unique beat by MANNIE FRESH one of the highest points on this album this is what i WANT from Wayne STRONG lyrics with GOOD/UNIQUE production.

4. WILD DOGS
Wayne comes fierce on the first verse with that D6 style flow, the hook is done well clearly inspired by new age sounds, autotune is carefully balanced. However on the second half of the song it does begin to fall apart with Wayne doing some lazy sounding moans production however is great with a unique sounding beat and thus i can excuse its short comings on the merit of how catchy and unique it sounds as a full product.

5. STOP PLAYIN WITH ME
A clear tone, hook is catchy not more i can say for or against said song but i'll always appreciate a introspective Wayne it is also great to hear Infamous working with Wayne another producer who UNDERSTANDS Wayne. the sounds on this sound MODERN and Wayne sounds like his enjoying and meaning the bars his saying theres energy and heart clearly applied to this song.

6. PIANO TRAP
Wayne gives us that mixtape energy on this he spits clever bars on this with that vintage Wayne finesse we all know and love his flow is unique his rhyme schemes are catchy and on the second half Wayne kicks into high-gear and delivers one of the most complete verses of the entire album Wayne sounds HUNGRY and VIBRANT this is the Wayne i EXPECT on a commercial album in 2020.

honourable mention to SATANS KID

any song i didn't mention in either list is average to below average depending

IN SUMMARY

FUNERAL is one of the biggest letdowns in Waynes discography and i'll have to say its the worst album we have got as fans since IANAHB2 i see a lot of people defending this album attempting to give it some legitimacy, i ask how you can after we got amazing albums like C5 AND FWA defend this messy pile of nothing. FUNERAL could have been A LOT MORE i guarantee that Mack and Wayne picked songs that did not belong on this album and there is a lot better VAULTED presently HOPEFULLY FUNERAL sessions begin to surface from here to showcase what sounds did not make the final product.

I want to re enforce when Wayne works with people who GET him
when Wayne demonstrates that HUNGER we all know and love
he makes some really strong music i KNOW he can give us a better and more cohesive album but at this point 6 stand out songs out of 24 songs is NOT an achievement and is very clearly in lacklustre/bad territory i feel Wayne got a song like PROBLEMS off C5 and expanded it out into an album and this is the product we got its simply not what i want from Wayne.

Also whats the go with features? Wayne one of the biggest rap artists ever has OT GENASIS, TAKEOFF, ADAM LEVINE on the album??

The DELUXE songs sound OK going off the snippets but even they sound average and not as exciting or vibrant as anything on C5 OR FWA but i will reserve judgements for the full product.

We need wayne to work with MANNIE AND STREETRUNNER and people who UNDERSTAND him and his sound theres to many sounds on this project that simply do not work with Wayne sounds that seem forced or seem like Waynes heart is just not into.

i'm still excited for the albums that come up after this VELVET hopefully will showcase some of the more creative sounds that Wayne has stocked away we all know Wayne has been wanting to drop a singing album for the longest time and i'm some what confident he can deliver something on an album like that but of course only time will tell.

in conclusion/main takeways

FUNERAL IS A LETDOWN AND WE SHOULD EXPECT MORE FROM OUR GOAT
- Wayne sounds like his forcing new age sounds to fit into a bracket
- Waynes delivery has declined significantly a lot of songs on this project sound like his half asleep
- Wayne a A-LIST rapper is working with D-LIST rappers
-Some songs on this sound outdated already and the year isn't over yet

[BrewCityCM]

No one, who’s not a Wayne Stan, has listened to the album since it’s release. But why post this on LWHQ, they think it’s AOTY lmao

[jhoya101]

The stretch of bing James, know you know, trust nobody, and not me is one of if not the worst stretch of Wayne music on any project of all time. Like 4 of his worst songs ever back to back. I agree with this mostly. But how u gonna say this about Darkside. How can u deny the greatness of tht first flow. How can we ignore the instrumental. Or the dexterity of the last flow.

And I agree on the delivery except for wild dogs. That was insane

[Zimmie]

The stretch of bing James, know you know, trust nobody, and not me is one of if not the worst stretch of Wayne music on any project of all time. Like 4 of his worst songs ever back to back. I agree with this mostly. But how u gonna say this about Darkside. How can u deny the greatness of tht first flow. How can we ignore the instrumental. Or the dexterity of the last flow.

And I agree on the delivery except for wild dogs. That was insane

thats straight facts that stretch sounds uninspired and bland as it comes know you know is kind of OK though its incredibly average and not a song i commonly listen to but its OK mostly for waynes laid back flow

on the topic of DARKSIDE -> it sounds like his spitting but realistically its just word vomit..... the instrumental sounds really messy and in-cohesive it sounds like a D6 DEMO i have listened to the song 2-3 times total i revisited whilst writing this piece and it just does not do it for me at all

- - - Updated - - -

No one, who’s not a Wayne Stan, has listened to the album since it’s release. But why post this on LWHQ, they think it’s AOTY lmao

straight facts.... the gen pub has long since moved on from the project and posting it on HQ is good im ready for a nice dialogue and argument with my fellow stans

[KnockMeOut]

- Wayne sounds like his forcing new age sounds to fit into a bracket

-Some songs on this sound outdated already and the year isn't over yet

The latter is caused by the former I think. Not that I really know what sounds outdated anymore since I barely listen to any modern hip hop but when Wayne is just himself and not trying to fit in with whatever is going on it's timeless. This is the main problem to me. From what I can tell the fans overwhelmingly prefer when he isn't so heavily influenced by these modern dudes. Why try to reproduce something we're already over-saturated with...

On producers... At this point Wayne should have a handful of high calibre people working on his projects helping him craft his sound who have worked with him for years and, like you say, understand him. Such as the ones we're always talking about on here. It's cool that he gives a platform to young/unknown producers but it shouldn't be the majority of the songs on an album.

As usual I'm sure there's more than an album's worth of what we want that could have gone on Funeral.
Probably saving the most exquisite ones for an underwear brand's mixtape like Vizine.

[jhoya101]

Butttt....... Funeral is one of the best things Wayne has ever done in his career.

He somehow managed to give us carter 1 style songs, Carter ii style songs, Carter v, Carter iii, Da Drought 3, D6/6Rand carter iii sessions style songs in one album.

Carter 1 with
Mahogany

Carter II
Mamma Mia

Da Drought 3
Darkside

Carter III
Get outta my head(if u don’t believe me listen to it again)

D6
Wild Dogs

We Are Young Money
Wayne’s World

Carter III Sessions
Harden

Carter V
Stop Playin Wit Me

And solid funeral songs such as bastard, funeral, Piano Trap, I Do It

The albums a modern day masterpiece.

Half of the album falls short but the other half is golden. Darkside, Piano Trap, Wild Dogs, and Wayne’s World are some of his most catchy songs in years. I didn’t think Wayne still had it in him. I knew he could rap but to be catchy is a whole different subject. He hasn’t really been catchy outside of small spurts in a decade.

Then to start an album, on three consecutive songs being some of his best rapping in years is carter ii like. With funeral, mahogany, and mamma mia

stop Playin wit me is one of Wayne’s most complete songs of the decade. Harden is straight modern day 07 Wayne. Bastard is virgorous and I do it slaps.

And my goodness the misunderstood Get Outta My Head. This is what I want from a modern day Wayne. Creativity. Just how weird can u get when rapping. This verse is something like he’s never done. I had to play it twice to understand it. The off beat almost backward sounding flow is pure genius. Almost carter iii like as far as branching out. I would like more of this in the future. Similar to a demon

To view this album one must look at it through the modern day Wayne listening lense and weed out the terrible as Wayne is usually is hit or miss these days. The lows are super low but the highs are fantastic. The lows to me tho cane from him tryna make hits and modern music. When he stuck to himself he delivered in a way only Wayne could

A trimmed funeral is one of his best and most complete albums ever.

In my phone funeral is

Funeral
Mahogany
Mamma Mia
Stop Playin Wit Me
Piano Trap
Harden
Wild Dogs
Darkside
I Do It
Bastard
Get Outta My Head
Wayne’s World


One of his best albums ever

[KnockMeOut]

And my goodness the misunderstood Get Outta My Head. This is what I want from a modern day Wayne. Creativity. Just how weird can u get when rapping. This verse is something like he’s never done. I had to play it twice to understand it. The off beat almost backward sounding flow is pure genius. Almost carter iii like as far as branching out. I would like more of this in the future. Similar to a demon

I agree with this. I love that verse. I want more out of the box stuff like this. Song gets boring after that though, could have taken it way further.

[Zimmie]

- Wayne sounds like his forcing new age sounds to fit into a bracket

-Some songs on this sound outdated already and the year isn't over yet

The latter is caused by the former I think. Not that I really know what sounds outdated anymore since I barely listen to any modern hip hop but when Wayne is just himself and not trying to fit in with whatever is going on it's timeless. This is the main problem to me. From what I can tell the fans overwhelmingly prefer when he isn't so heavily influenced by these modern dudes. Why try to reproduce something we're already over-saturated with...

On producers... At this point Wayne should have a handful of high calibre people working on his projects helping him craft his sound who have worked with him for years and, like you say, understand him. Such as the ones we're always talking about on here. It's cool that he gives a platform to young/unknown producers but it shouldn't be the majority of the songs on an album.

As usual I'm sure there's more than an album's worth of what we want that could have gone on Funeral.
Probably saving the most exquisite ones for an underwear brand's mixtape like Vizine.

your exactly right... im glad you agree on those points at the core of my post i feel wayne needs to work with the people who promote the best in him and dive into that energy people like STREET RUNNER, INFAMOUS, MANNIE FRESH and he needs to stay away from trying to fit him into a bracket wayne was the man pioneering and paradigm shifting the game and ESTABLISHING trends he is a leader and does not sit well as a FOLLOWER waynes sound is naturally modern just because of the pillars he himself established he does not need to dumb down his lyrics or do weird ad-libs to hit in todays markets i follow modern day hip-hop closely and although id like wayne to collab with a few artists from this gen i don't want him to try to bend himself to fit into the soundcloud era by dumbing down the complexity and creativity of his usual sounds

- - - Updated - - -

Butttt....... Funeral is one of the best things Wayne has ever done in his career.

He somehow managed to give us carter 1 style songs, Carter ii style songs, Carter v, Carter iii, Da Drought 3, D6/6Rand carter iii sessions style songs in one album.

Carter 1 with
Mahogany

Carter II
Mamma Mia

Da Drought 3
Darkside

Carter III
Get outta my head(if u don’t believe me listen to it again)

D6
Wild Dogs

We Are Young Money
Wayne’s World

Carter III Sessions
Harden

Carter V
Stop Playin Wit Me

And solid funeral songs such as bastard, funeral, Piano Trap, I Do It

The albums a modern day masterpiece.

Half of the album falls short but the other half is golden. Darkside, Piano Trap, Wild Dogs, and Wayne’s World are some of his most catchy songs in years. I didn’t think Wayne still had it in him. I knew he could rap but to be catchy is a whole different subject. He hasn’t really been catchy outside of small spurts in a decade.

Then to start an album, on three consecutive songs being some of his best rapping in years is carter ii like. With funeral, mahogany, and mamma mia

stop Playin wit me is one of Wayne’s most complete songs of the decade. Harden is straight modern day 07 Wayne. Bastard is virgorous and I do it slaps.

And my goodness the misunderstood Get Outta My Head. This is what I want from a modern day Wayne. Creativity. Just how weird can u get when rapping. This verse is something like he’s never done. I had to play it twice to understand it. The off beat almost backward sounding flow is pure genius. Almost carter iii like as far as branching out. I would like more of this in the future. Similar to a demon

To view this album one must look at it through the modern day Wayne listening lense and weed out the terrible as Wayne is usually is hit or miss these days. The lows are super low but the highs are fantastic. The lows to me tho cane from him tryna make hits and modern music. When he stuck to himself he delivered in a way only Wayne could

A trimmed funeral is one of his best and most complete albums ever.

In my phone funeral is

Funeral
Mahogany
Mamma Mia
Stop Playin Wit Me
Piano Trap
Harden
Wild Dogs
Darkside
I Do It
Bastard
Get Outta My Head
Wayne’s World


One of his best albums ever

this is so painful to read how could you put darkside against anything on dd3....... Carter 2 MAMA MIA? are you deaf bruv..... hahaha

Funerals high points are cool... but they do not hold a candle light to any of waynes peaks and highs thru his career id say they are kicking rocks on the downward spiral with the high moments of IANAHB2 and C4 his last creative decline you stans are wildin out the album is no where near a masterpiece it has PILLARS of a decent album or a step towards a masterpiece but it simply aint there.... but hey i respect ur opinion lets shoot the shit and debate this what this thread for

[BrewCitySQ]

No one, who’s not a Wayne Stan, has listened to the album since it’s release. But why post this on LWHQ, they think it’s AOTY lmao

No one has claimed that this is AOTY let alone a great project in Waynes discography. (EDIT: I guess Jhoya thinks its one of the best projects)

I agree with [MENTION=62207]Zimmie[/MENTION] review except I like a couple of the tracks that he doesnt, and dont like a few that he does.

I also don't agree that it's a bad overall project. Everyone seems to be able to pick 5-10 tracks that they like a lot, 5-10 that they don't like at all, and 5-10 that might just not stand out.

I think this makes a decent to good album. A bad album would not have any good to great tracks on it.

In conclusion... Funeral is an average album in Waynes discography.

[martian master]

Great thread but majority of this site wont agree

[Zimmie]

I agree with this. I love that verse. I want more out of the box stuff like this. Song gets boring after that though, could have taken it way further.

i to do enjoy out of box stuff but outta my head is not it the song sounds incredibly slapped together maybe as a single released as a tribute on soundcloud or something i could back it but not on a commercial album

[lilwayne-carter]

he tried to make a rebirth 2 but it's not the time